Writing about life lessons and the unexpected.

Lesson Learned: Right Place, Wrong Time

On Saturday I went to Ikea with my daughter. As I drove out of the neighborhood I saw that a frog, the size of a Ping-Pong ball, was still perched on the hood of my vehicle. We wondered how long the frog would last before the wind took him away. Would it be 45 MPH or 65 MPH? Being nice, I decided to pull over before the experiment began, and I poked the frog with my finger until he hopped off. Once in my car, I hoped that the frog didn’t jump into the way of my tire. I didn’t see any dark spots in the road behind me as I drove off so that was a good sign. He was in the right place soaking up the sun but at the wrong time.

On Sunday I went hiking with my husband at a county park. We walked the trail near the river, and I felt something hit my leg. I thought maybe a stick since I stumbled. Nope, it was a frog about the size of a baseball. I saw him hop off the trail and into the tall grass. I’m surprised the frog wasn’t dazed by the hit. He went on his merry way. He was in the right place at the wrong time. But wouldn’t you have thought he’d avoid me? Not hit me?

The frog that ran into my leg reminded me of a friend who once told me that when you damage your car after being hit by an animal, you should tell your insurance agent that it was the animal’s fault. Example: Don’t say, “I hit a deer.” You want to say “A deer came out and hit my car.” You are telling the agent that you were not at fault. You were in the right place at the wrong time.

Now this made me think of my son. I remember way back when he was little and we were getting ready to leave the house. We lived in a split-level home, and I went to get my purse. Next thing I knew, my daughter was crying at the landing after she had fallen down the stairs. My son, so innocent-looking, stood at the top of the stairs. I asked him what happened. He said, “I don’t know. I closed my eyes,” he proceeded to close his eyes, “I fell asleep,” he demonstrated his light snoring ability, “and when I woke up,” he popped his eyes open, “she was down there.” He pointed at her and shrugged his shoulders. So like the frogs or the deer, my son was telling me that he wasn’t at fault. I still have to admit that was pretty clever on his part since I still remember this twenty years later. I guess he was in the right place just at the wrong time too…or maybe that was my daughter.